We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.

This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.

For more information, please see How we make money.

How Do You Convert Miles & Points From Other Programs to United Airlines Miles?

  • Million Mile Secrets

    • Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.

    Update:   One or more card offers in this post are no longer available.  Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.

    Million Mile Secrets reader Teri commented:

    We want to visit Italy and France in September 2017 for our 30th anniversary.  And because we’ve already saved some United Airlines miles, we plan to fly with United Airlines or a Star Alliance partner.

    But we’ve also earned miles & points with our Chase Sapphire Preferred and Capital One Venture Rewards Credit cards.

    So, how do we combine the miles & points from these different programs in order to book our award tickets with United Airlines miles?  And are there any other cards you’d recommend we get?

    Great question, Teri!

    One of my favorite things about miles & points is showing others how to get Big Travel.  And I especially love that Teri plans to use miles & points to help celebrate an anniversary!

    Visit the Colorful Seaside Villages of Cinque Terre, Italy. This Ticket Could Otherwise Cost You ~$8,000!

    Let’s look at how Teri can use miles & points from various programs to get to Europe with United Airlines.  And I’ll make a few suggestions about other cards to consider!

    How to Convert Various Miles & Points to United Airlines Miles

    Teri mentioned having the Chase Sapphire Preferred card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points and the Capital One® Venture® Rewards Credit Card that earns Venture miles.

    Chase Sapphire Preferred

    Link:   Chase Sapphire Preferred 

    Link:   My Review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred

    Using points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is straightforward.  Because you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio to United Airlines to book an award ticket.

    If you’re transferring Chase Ultimate points from someone else’s account, they must be a household member AND authorized user on your account.

    Chase Ultimate Rewards points are flexible.  And that’s one of the reasons it’s my favorite points program!

    Capital One Venture

    Link:   Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

    Capital One Venture miles, on the other hand, can NOT be transferred directly to United Airlines miles.

    And although Capital One calls them “miles,” they are NOT airline miles.   The name is confusing, but how it works is actually very simple.

    If Teri wants to use Venture miles during their trip, they’ll have to use them for something other than award flights.

    For example, you can use Capital One Venture miles as a statement credit for travel purchases like a hotel stay or rental car.  Or even a short flight from Italy to France!

    You Can Use Your Capital One Venture Miles at Chain Hotels or Independent Lodging Like the Beautiful Appia Antica Resort in Rome, Italy

    Capital One Venture miles are nice because you can book travel on any site and you don’t have to worry about blackout dates.  You just redeem the Venture miles for a statement credit after the purchase.

    That said, they’re worth 1 cent per mile.  Airline miles can be worth much more!  Teri can do the math to figure out the value of the Venture miles they already have.

    Using United Airlines Miles to Europe

    Link:   United Airlines Award Chart 

    I’ve written about all the ways to get to Europe using United Airlines miles.

    Here’s how many United Airlines miles Teri will need for 1 round-trip United Airlines flight from the US (excluding Hawaii) to Europe:

    Coach flights to Europe cost the same amount of miles on partner airlines (like Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, and Air Canada), but you’ll need more miles for Business Class and First Class award flights:

    And the good thing about United Airlines is they do NOT add fuel surcharges to award tickets!

    An Anniversary Trip to France Sounds Like a Great Idea! And Teri Will Save Money Using United Airlines Miles to Get There!

    Because they have so many European Star Alliance partners, Teri is likely to have lots of flight options too.

    What Other Cards Should Teri Consider?

    If you plan to book award flights with United Airlines, it’s nice to have the Chase United Explorer card.  Because with the card, there are more United Airlines award seats available for you than for non-cardholders!

    You’ll also get your first checked bag free when you use the card to pay for your ticket.  Even when using the card to pay for the taxes on United Airlines award tickets.

    And if you apply by June 30, 2016, you’ll earn:

    The $95 annual fee is NOT waived the first year.  But there are no foreign transaction fees, which makes it a good card to use abroad.

    So this could be a great card if Teri needs more United Airlines miles and is looking for more available award seats.  And because 55,000 United Airlines miles is just 5,000 miles shy of a round-trip coach ticket to Europe! 🙂

    We don’t earn a commission for this offer, but we’ll always tell you about the best deals!

    With the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, You Can Transfer Points From the Chase Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, and Ink Cash Cards to a Number of Airlines & Hotels for Big Travel!
    Teri could also consider another card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points that transfer to United Airlines miles at a 1:1 ratio.  This includes the Chase Ink Plus small business card (if they qualify).

    It currently has a 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards point sign-up bonus.  Meaning they’d essentially have another 60,000 United Airlines miles after meeting the card’s minimum spending requirements!

    You can learn more about the Chase Ink Plus card here.

    And because Teri already has the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, they can transfer points from cards like the Chase Freedom, Freedom Unlimited, and Ink Business Cash Credit Card to United Airlines miles as well.

    Just don’t forget about Chase’s new stricter approval rules.

    Bottom Line

    Teri can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points from the Chase Sapphire Preferred card to United Airlines at a 1:1 ratio.

    But you can NOT transfer Capital One Venture miles to United Airlines miles.  They can only be used as a statement credit (worth 1 cent per mile) toward travel purchases like airline tickets, hotel rooms, or car rentals.

    And if Teri is looking for another credit card to earn more United Airlines miles, the Chase United Explorer card would be a great option.

    Or consider earning more Chase Ultimate Rewards points that transfer to United Airlines miles at a 1:1 ratio, with a card like the Chase Ink Plus.

    Thanks again for the question, Teri.  I hope you tell us about your anniversary trip when you return!

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)